Tom Thibodeau now less enthusiastic for new officiating guidelines
While still a proponent of the intent of the new referring guidelines, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau believes the application has already allowed for too much hacking and not enough whistles.
He even indicated that Mitchell Robinson’s concussion was a product of the whistle-swallowing.
“Let’s see there was a concussion,” Thibodeau said when asked about the new rules. “My thing is I don’t think you can predetermine how you can call a game.”
Robinson absorbed an elbow to his nose while trying to contest Jae’sean Tate’s drive in the third quarter of Saturday’s victory over the Rockets. There was no foul after Tate swung his arm onto Robinson’s face, and the Knicks center left the game with both nostrils plugged with cotton.
He was ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Bulls with a concussion.
The Knicks have been lauding the revised NBA officiating guidelines — which are supposed to rid the game of baiting fouls — but Thibodeau introduced a new skeptical view. Not coincidentally, the Knicks averaged just 16 free throw attempts in the six games heading into the Bulls matchup, which ranked 28th in the NBA during that stretch.
“I do like the intent of it in terms of I don’t to see officials tricked into calls. If a guy makes an aggressive move to the basket and he gets hit, then he deserves two free throws. But if it’s not an aggressive move to the basket, it’s not a basketball play, he shouldn’t be rewarded for that,” Thibodeau said. “And then on the flip side, I don’t want to go into a game where a guy is getting clobbered and we’ve already predetermined that we’re not going to call those. That’s not right either. To find that balance of what is a foul and that goes back to experience and trained eye, the balance of the crew and is something being taken advantage of. The number one job of the official in my eye is to control and manage the game. Simple.”
Thibodeau has been shouting at the referees during games, which isn’t new. But he pushed it to the limit Saturday and picked up a technical. Curtis Blair, Karl Lane and Bennie Adams were the three-person officiating crew Saturday at MSG.
Obi Toppin, Kemba Walker and Nerlens Noel were all banged up in separate physical plays against the Rockets, but all were available in Chicago a day later.
Without Robinson, Noel started at center and backup Taj Gibson was ruled out with a groin injury. The circumstances left rookie Jericho Sims as the second center.
